We’ve officially entered July, which means another year of UFC action is halfway to completion. We’ve got plenty of exciting matchups still to come (Holloway-Poirier III, Du Plessis-Chimaev, Harrison-Nunes, etc.), but now is a great time to look back with appreciation on the best UFC highlights from the past six months. Today, I’m listing my picks and honorable mentions for the best knockout, submission, fight, event and fighter of 2025 (so far).

Knockout of the Year (so far): Ruffy KO Green, UFC 313

Honorable Mention: Topuria KO Oliveira, UFC 317

Ilia Topuria just won the lightweight title with a viral first-round knockout of the UFC’s all-time leader in finishes. However, Topuria’s best finish to date still wasn’t enough to take the top spot away from Mauricio Ruffy, who put King Green on his face with a brilliant spinning wheel kick against the cage at UFC 313 in March.

I’m a sucker for kicks, especially spinning kicks, and spinning kicks don’t come much cleaner than Ruffy’s. I’d rate it the second-best spinning wheel kick knockout of all time behind Edson Barboza’s legendary 2012 knockout of Terry Etim, and it further propelled the Fighting Nerds gym and its members into superstardom.

Submission of the Year (so far): Silva sub. Mitchell, UFC 314

Honorable Mention: Makhachev sub. Moicano, UFC 311

Islam Makhachev’s D’Arce choke over Renato Moicano at January’s UFC 311 was quick and lethal, but the result was expected given Makhachev’s dominant grappling abilities and the one day of preparation Moicano had following Arman Tsarukyan’s last-minute injury.

Less expected was Jean Silva’s vicious ninja choke win over Bryce Mitchell. Many fans expected Mitchell to have a grappling edge over Silva, but Silva was in control for almost the entire fight. After defending Mitchell’s takedowns and nearly securing a guillotine in the first round, Silva caught Mitchell with a ninja choke and put him to sleep in the second. It was a fitting finish for one of this year’s most heated rivalries.

Fight of the Year (so far): Van def. Royval, UFC 317

Honorable Mention: Sadykhov KO Motta, UFC Baku

Heading into the last pay-per-view of June, I was certain I’d be writing about Nazlim Sadykhov’s incredible victory over Nikolas Motta in his home country of Azerbaijan. Sadykhov came back from the brink of defeat in Round 1, and the two continued to brawl until a massive right from Sadykhov melted Motta against the fence. The bloody war earned extra-large $100,000 Fight of the Night bonuses for each fighter.

However, UFC 317 saw Joshua Van and Brandon Royval combine for a three-round UFC record of 419 strikes landed. The last of those strikes came from the victorious Van, who dropped and nearly finished Royval at the buzzer.

Van, who took the fight on three weeks’ notice after Manel Kape pulled out, walked away with a flyweight title shot. Though Royval lost, his short-notice efforts motivated UFC President Dana White to pay the American his win money, doubling his paycheck.

The two also walked away with respective $50,000 bonuses for Fight of the Night, and their clash was named the UFC’s Fight of the Month shortly after.

Event of the Year (so far): UFC 314: Volkanovski vs. Lopes

Honorable Mention: UFC 317: Topuria vs. Oliveira

I was tempted to make UFC Seattle (my first live UFC experience which began with seven straight finishes) the honorable mention, but UFC 317’s excellent prelims and two title-fight finishes were more deserving.

However, April’s UFC 314 delivered one of the best main cards we’ve seen in recent years, so it takes my top spot. Dominick Reyes’ McGregor-esque knockout of Nikita Krylov was both stunning and heartwarming, while Silva’s second-round submission of Mitchell was my pick for Submission of the Year (so far).

Patricio Pitbull hardly moved against Yair Rodriguez, but Paddy Pimblett looked excellent in his third-round stoppage of Michael Chandler. Finally, 36-year-old fan-favorite Alexander Volkanovski broke the age barrier, recapturing his featherweight title in a nail-biting war against a young star in Diego Lopes.

Fighter of the Year (so far): Merab Dvalishvili

Honorable Mention: Jean Silva

The Fighting Nerds rode into 2025 on a wave of popularity following a string of excellent 2024 performances from the quartet. While Ruffy’s knockout of Green was incredible, Silva already has two excellent stoppage wins in 2025 and has continued to make a name for himself with his intense, animalistic persona. He’s now got five UFC wins (all finishes) but will face his biggest test against the aforementioned Lopes at Noche UFC 3 in September.

However, Merab Dvalishvili’s two wins this year were even more impressive. He got the better of a very talented Umar Nurmagomedov on the ground and the feet at UFC 311 in January, winning a unanimous decision. He then rematched a now-healthy Sean O’Malley at UFC 316 in June and beat him even more convincingly than he did at Noche UFC 2 last September. 

The north-south choke he secured on O’Malley marked Dvalishvili’s first UFC submission win and first finish since his TKO victory over Marlon Moraes in 2021. Dvalishvili won’t admit it out of respect for teammate Aljamain Sterling, but he’s likely the greatest bantamweight in UFC history.